“We are the strongest team in the league. We definitely have a chance to win the title again without losing any match,” Abahani head coach Khaled Mahmud told reporters at Mirpur National Cricket Academy on Thursday.

“I don’t think I have worked with such a strong team previously in Dhaka League,” he said.

Abahani will play against Prime Bank Cricket Club on Friday at Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah. The champions are getting the services of some national team players who have returned from New Zealand.

But Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who got married on Thursday, will miss the next game.

“We need to wait more for Mehiday. But we have a balanced team,” Mahmud said. “Sometimes, we face difficulties to pick the best eleven because we have the best guys in the business. We hope the next game will be more competitive.”

Jahurul Islam, Nazmul Hossain Shanto and Mohammad Saifuddin played for Abahani in the first four rounds of the league. They have accumulated 180, 169 and 118 runs respectively. Nazmul Islam and Rubel Hossain did well with the ball with both taking six wickets each.

All-rounder Saifuddin is uncertain for the next game as he is suffering from an injury. But the coach is confident to get the service of the fast-bowling all-rounder.

Prime Bank Cricket Club have been doing well in the league so far. They won three of their first four matches and their captain Anamul Haque Bijoy struck two centuries in the league so far.

There will be two other matches on Friday.

Mohammedan Sporting Club will lock horns with Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club at Savar, and Legends of Rupganj will face Gazi Group Cricketers at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Mohammedan are at number four in the points table while Sheikh Jamal are at number 10. Rupganj and Gazi Group are at number five and seven respectively.

Dhaka, Mar 21 (UNB) – Baridhara Rajuk School clinched the boys’ crown and Scholastica School girls’ title of the Panam Group Dhaka Metropolis School Volleyball (Boys and Girls) Tournament eliminating their rivals in the finals at Shaheed Suhrawardy National Indoor Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday.

In the finals, Baridhara Rajuk School emerged boys’ champion beating South Breeze School, Dhanmondi by straight 3-0 sets while Scholastica School clinched the girls’ title beating BISC Nirjor also by straight 3-0 sets in the afternoon.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and Deputy Office Secretary of Ruling Bangladesh Awami League Biplob Barua witnessed the day’s final as the chief guest and later he distributed the trophies.

General Secretary of Bangladesh Volleyball Federation Ashiqur Rahman Miku was present on the occasion.

Dhaka, March 21 (UNB)— Bangladesh will take on hosts Bahrain on Friday to start their Group B campaign of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers.

The match, one of the two on the opening day, will take place at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town at 10pm Bangladesh time. Palestine will play Sri Lanka in the other match on the opening day at 7pm BdST.

Bangladesh have been placed in four-team Group B with hosts Bahrain, Palestine and Sri Lanka. In the remaining group matches, Bangladesh will play Palestine on March 24 at 7pm BdST and Sri Lanka on March 26 at 10pm BdST.

The morale of Bangladesh team is very high. During their 10-day intensive training camp in Qatar, they beat Al Shahania Club by 1-0 goal and had a goalless draw with Al Arabi Club.

Bangladesh football team, studded with 11 youthful U-23 players, recently beat hosts Cambodia by 1-0 in the FIFA International Friendly in Phnom Penh.

Forty-four teams, split into eleven groups, are taking part in the AFC U-23 qualifiers, a qualifying meet of the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Later, 11 group champions with four best group runners-up and hosts Thailand will play in the 16-team final round of the meet slated for January next year in Thailand. The top three teams will qualify for Tokyo Olympics.

Bangladesh U-23 Football team reached Bahrain capital Manama from Qatar to compete in Group B matches. On Thursday, Bangladesh attended the managers’ coordination meeting after breakfast.

The coach and captain of Bangladesh are scheduled to attend the official pre-match press conference at 10pm BdST. Then the players are schedule to take part in an one-hour training session at the match venue from 10:30pm to 11:30pm BdST.

Dhaka, Mar 21 (UNB) - The hearts of many young female fans of Tigers might have broken as Bangladeshi all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz tied the knot on Thursday.

The 21-year-old married Rabeya Akter Prity, a resident of Khulna. The marriage took place at the bride’s house in Khalishpur in the afternoon, Mehidy’s father-in-law Belal Hossain told UNB.

Mehidy had told the media that he wanted to marry Prity earlier but it took time to fix the date because of the busy international cricket schedule.

Meanwhile, Mustafizur Rahman, the left-arm pacer who caught the world’s attention at his debut, is all set to marry his cousin on Friday at his village home in Satkhira.

The bride, Samia Parvin Shimu, is a first-year student at Dhaka University. She also hails from Satkhira.

The family of 23-year-old Mustafizur has kept mum but Shimu’s father Raunakul Islam said only family members will attend the marriage. He declined to share any details about the time and place.

Both Mehidy and Mustafizur said their marriage ceremonies will take place after the World Cup, set to begin on May 30.

Mehidy started playing for the Tigers in 2016. He scored 554 runs in 36 innings of 19 Tests with an average of 18.46. His highest individual score is 68 (not out). He played 25 ODIs and scored 291 runs in 16 innings.

He has done well with the ball, taking 86 wickets in 34 Test innings with his best bowling in a match being 12/117. In ODIs, he scalped 26 wickets in 24 matches. His best performance was 4/29.

On the other hand, Mustafizur, the southpaw from Satkhira, started playing for the Tigers in 2015.

He took 28 wickets in 13 Tests with a best match figure of 5/66. He has done well in ODIs, taking 77 wickets in 43 matches. His best performance was 6/43.